Honkai Star Rail: Corruption System

Daziel's body tensed almost imperceptibly for a moment, then relaxed. A hint of deep helplessness flashed through his grey-gold eyes.

He turned his head slightly, his voice tinged with a hard-to-detect weariness.

"What is it now, Miss Black Swan? Didn't you say you wouldn't do that?"

Black Swan sighed distantly, the sound seeming to pass through a long expanse of time, carrying an indescribable wistfulness, and even… a hint of nostalgia that almost dissipated into the air.

"It's nothing special."

"It's just… you know, it's been too long, far too long, since I lost my real body of flesh and blood…"

"This is also the first time I've touched, so unreservedly, a… hmm, a living male body like yours, one that contains such astonishing power."

The corner of her lips under the veil seemed to curve slightly, carrying a hint of self-mockery.

"To say my heart is as still as water, without a single ripple, would undoubtedly be deceiving myself."

"Although between us, that kind of worldly intimacy is destined not to happen… but, just let me… feel it for a little while."

"Just consider it satisfying a tiny bit of curiosity that happened to arise in my long career as a Memokeeper, how about it?"

Daziel felt a vein in his temple throb. A feeling mixed with absurdity and a headache quietly grew.

He asked, his voice a bit dry, "So… are you satisfied now?"

Black Swan's purple eye winked playfully, revealing a faint smile that was almost sly, like that of a bewitching femme fatale.

"Not yet."

Daziel was completely speechless, a complicated emotion of not knowing whether to laugh or cry welling up in his heart.

Who would have thought that this Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection, who always maintained a mysterious, elegant, and noble demeanor, would have such a… hmm, such a "down-to-earth," even teasing, almost "hooligan" side to her in private.

"Alright, alright, the jokes end here."

The mischievous look on Black Swan's face receded like a tide, replaced by a calm and focused seriousness.

The intangible Memoria around her began to fluctuate, emitting a unique rhythm.

"Close your eyes, Mr. Daziel… We are about to enter the real stage."

Daziel closed his eyes as instructed, temporarily casting aside his chaotic thoughts.

He could clearly feel Black Swan's warm breath gently brushing past his ear, like a feather, bringing a slight itch.

Her unique fragrance, like an orchid blooming quietly in the dark night, lingered even more clearly at the tip of his nose.

His consciousness, as if gently lifted by an invisible and gentle hand, or perhaps pulled by an irresistible, powerful force, began to sink slowly and steadily.

Down, down!

Plunging into that bizarre, ever-changing place, filled with unknown secrets and hidden dangers…

The true depths of the dreamscape.

This time, the transition was without the annoying, signal-like mechanical female voice broadcasting in his mind.

It was more like a sudden, yet incredibly deep and brief, lapse in consciousness.

When his consciousness reconsolidated and his vision cleared again, Daziel found himself standing in a dim and twisted corridor.

The material of the surrounding walls was unknown, their surfaces seemingly covered with a membrane-like living thing, pulsating at an extremely slow frequency.

The light was extremely dim, and the air was filled with an indescribable, special odor, a mixture of old dust and some kind of decaying organic matter.

This place…

Daziel vaguely found it familiar, as if he had hastily passed through it in some previous dream fragment.

But now, truly standing within it, the heavy and viscous sense of oppression originating from the environment itself was more than ten times stronger than in his memory.

It was like an invisible spiderweb, wrapping around his heart layer by layer, making it difficult to breathe.

Just then, a familiar and elegant female voice sounded from his side, carrying a deliberately slowed, reassuring rhythm.

"Come with me, this way."

Daziel turned his head at the sound and saw Black Swan standing quietly at a nearby corner of the corridor.

Her purple eyes under the veil swirled with a strange luster in the dimness, as if containing fragments of stars.

Before Daziel could ask, a cool yet exceptionally soft hand had already accurately and gently taken his wrist.

The moment their skin touched, it was as if a very faint static current shot through, making Daziel's heart skip a beat.

Almost half-guided, half-led by Black Swan, Daziel followed her steps, passing through this unsettlingly strange corridor. The air was so thick it was almost tangible, like setting syrup. Every step felt like treading on an invisible, resilient resistance.

Finally, the two stopped at the end of the corridor, in front of a huge, grotesquely styled oil painting.

The frame had a primitive color, weathered by time, its corners covered with a thick layer of dust that seemed to have frozen time itself.

The scene on the canvas, however, exuded a heart-stopping strangeness and madness—

Two completely disproportionate, twisted and intertwined giant hands occupied the entire picture.

Their knuckles were thick and deformed, muscles gnarled, fingernails black and sharp.

These two giant hands, working together, had torn a ghastly white, bottomlessly deep, horrifying rift in the very center of the oil painting.

That rift was not a static image; it seemed to have a life of its own, pulsating slightly, emitting a cold, terrifying suction that felt like it could pull one's very soul in.

Black Swan released Daziel's wrist. Her slender fingertips gently tapped the edge of the dark fissure, her tone calm and rippleless.

"The entrance is right here."

Daziel stared at the fissure that seemed to lead to an abyss, exuding an ominous aura, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

"How do we… get in?"

Black Swan turned her face to the side. An elusive arc, mixed with teasing and mystery, seemed to flash in the deep purple eyes beneath her veil.

She lightly parted her red lips, the words she uttered carrying a casual, matter-of-fact tone.

"It's simple. Just jump in."

Before her voice had even faded, giving Daziel no time to think or react!

Black Swan had already grabbed his arm again. A gentle yet irresistible force came from her, pulling him forcefully towards the rift in the painting!

Like stones thrown into an endless abyss, their bodies instantly lost all balance and were completely swallowed by the dark rift in the painting!

An unprecedented, intensely strong sensation of the world spinning violently struck him!

It was as if the entire world had been thrown into a giant, madly rotating blender. The concepts of time and space were completely shattered and confused at this moment!

His five senses failed instantly, his consciousness flickering and blurring like a candle in the wind, countless chaotic lights and shadows and piercing noises exploding in his perception!

It was impossible to know how long had passed. Perhaps it was just a momentary daze, perhaps it was an agony as long as eternity.

When Daziel's consciousness resurfaced as if from the bottom of the water, and the nauseating dizziness gradually receded like a tide, he slowly opened his eyes.

The scene before him made his pupils contract suddenly.

The surroundings were still a depressing dimness, the air filled with a thicker smell of dust, and a faint, musty odor like that of old, moldy things.

By the extremely faint light, he could vaguely make out that this place…

Was actually the first-floor lobby of The Reverie Hotel where they had briefly stayed before.

However, compared to the brightly lit, magnificent, bustling hotel lobby in the reality dream, where luxury and joy flowed everywhere…

The scene before him was like a ruin from a scroll of hell, a completely different place!

The giant crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling was now dusty and dim. Countless crystal pendants had lost their former brilliance, only emitting a few faint, sickly green glimmers like will-o'-the-wisps.

The once magnificent and soft carpet underfoot was severely faded, torn and ripped in many places, revealing the dirty floor beneath. In the corners, piles of unknown, writhing dark shadows accumulated.

Those once exquisite and elegant sculptures and wall decorations, distorted by the dim light, presented sinister and grotesque silhouettes, as if they would come alive at any moment.

The entire vast space was deathly silent. Not a single human voice could be heard, only the occasional faint, strange sound from deep within the structure, like the wail of an old building.

A bone-deep gloom, desolation, and dead silence, like an invisible cold tide, permeated every corner of the air.

"How is it, Mr. Daziel? Are you feeling any obvious discomfort?"

Black Swan's voice, like a stone thrown into stagnant water, broke the suffocating silence.

She stood not far from Daziel, her posture still composed and elegant, as if long accustomed to such a bizarre and terrifying environment.

Daziel took a deep breath, suppressing the strong sense of discomfort caused by the drastic change in environment, his voice slightly low.

"I'm fine… I don't feel anything for now."

"That's good."

Black Swan nodded slightly, her tone tinged with understanding.

"Otherwise, I would have to spend some time waiting for you to get used to it first."

"I've said it before, your body is very special, Mr. Daziel. There seems to be some kind of natural, powerful mental barrier."

"Unless you take the initiative to open up your perception, your senses will automatically isolate and filter out most of the Memoria and meme information in the air."

She paused, her purple eyes sparkling with inquiry in the dimness.

"Perhaps you haven't even discovered it yourself… the concentration of the 'Sins of Desire' in this deep Memory Domain is far, far higher than in the surface dreamscape outside."

"It's almost… so dense it's tangible, even visible to the naked eye."

"Is that so?"

Hearing this, Daziel's heart suddenly stirred.

He closed his eyes as she suggested, calmed his mind, and tried to release the mental barrier he had unconsciously maintained, to actively touch and perceive this strange environment around him.

In an instant!

A viscous emotional torrent, so vast it was almost terrifying and indescribable in words, like a bursting pink river, surged into his perception!

Greed, obsession, resentment, jealousy, mania, despair…

Countless negative emotions, like tangible sludge, were viscous, cold, and foul, filling every corner of the air!

They entangled, collided, and roared, condensing into a nauseating mixture of decay and extreme desire…

Sexual impulse!

This concentration far surpassed any outbreak of lust he had felt on the Xianzhou or in Belobog!

They had almost condensed into a faintly flowing pink mist, visible to the naked eye, silently pervading the dim lobby!

Daziel's eyes snapped open, his grey-gold eyes now tinged with a layer of cold gravity.

Black Swan quietly observed his reaction, her tone carrying an expected understanding.

"You feel it now, right?"

"In Penacony's glamorous surface dream world, you can hardly feel the existence of any 'Sins of Desire' memes. I was wondering before where all those negative emotions that should accompany dreams had gone."

"Now, it seems the answer is obvious."

"They were deliberately collected, guided, and finally piled up here by 'The Family' through some unknown means."

"This… filthy true dreamscape hidden beneath the sweet dream."

Who would have thought that the beautiful dream of Penacony, which promoted abstinence, order, harmony, and beauty to the outside world…

In its unknown, deliberately concealed deep dreamscape, would hide such a filthy, vast, and frightening collection of desires!

It was like a glamorous, flawless apple on the outside, but inside, it was already rotten and maggot-infested, dripping with foul-smelling pus.

Daziel's voice unconsciously took on an icy chill.

"They… why would they do this?"

"I suspect…"

Black Swan's purple eyes flickered with the light of thought and deduction.

"It's highly likely that 'The Family,' in order to maintain the 'pure,' 'beautiful,' and 'eternally joyful' facade of the surface dreamscape, deliberately guided all the negative emotions and all the disharmonious 'Sins of Desire' memes that naturally arise in the dreamscape into this deeper dreamscape through some mechanism."

"That so-called Land of the Exiled you heard about from Robin before, the real situation is probably much more serious than we initially imagined."

"That place, perhaps… is the final outlet and dumping ground for this massive collection of desire and emotion. It's hard to imagine what kind of dissolute life the people there live."

Her words took a slight turn, her tone carrying a subtle, almost indifferent objectivity.

"However, from a certain management perspective, centralizing all the garbage for disposal doesn't seem entirely unreasonable."

"At least, this way it won't affect the guests in the surface dreamscape who are immersed in beautiful dreams and enjoying false happiness."

Daziel slowly shook his head, the movement small, yet carrying a resolute negation.

His grey-gold eyes flashed with unconcealed coldness and disgust.

"No."

"If that so-called 'Land of the Exiled' is really as you speculate, and there are even innocent people forced to live there…"

"Then, for 'The Family' to maintain that superficial, hypocritical prosperity, they chose to sacrifice and abandon a portion of people, letting them sink into such a filthy, hellish environment…"

Daziel's voice was calm, yet it contained a heart-stopping power.

"This method… is somewhat… nauseating."

Hearing these merciless words, filled with strong moral condemnation, the expression under Black Swan's veil moved slightly. Her gaze towards Daziel gained a hint of an imperceptible emotion…

Perhaps, it was a very faint sense of approval.

The brow under Black Swan's veil raised almost imperceptibly, a flash of incredible surprise in her purple eyes.

"Tsk, I never thought a guy like you… would actually say such compassionate words."

Her voice carried a strange teasing tone, as if she had discovered something extremely rare.

"Then your previous brutal actions towards Robin, and that Miss Firefly…"

Daziel's expression didn't ripple in the slightest, his tone still calm and rippleless, as if stating the simplest of facts.

"People are inherently contradictory and complex aggregates."

"I once made an oath, to cleanse this already fallen and filthy world, for the justice I believe in, for the conviction I uphold…"

"I can do anything, anything!"

His gaze was deep, as if carrying endless darkness and resolve.

"It doesn't matter how much sin I bear, how much karmic fire I endure, even if I am doomed beyond redemption."

Black Swan fell into a brief silence, her fingertips unconsciously fiddling with the corner of her clothes. No one could glimpse the expression under her veil.

"…What an… interesting argument."

She gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, carrying a hint of indescribable self-mockery and frustration.

"It seems my understanding of you is still greatly biased."

"Having lost the ability to directly analyze memories, has my ability to judge a person… really degenerated to such a ridiculous extent?"

"Your bad impressions of me are perhaps not wrong."

Daziel's tone was as indifferent as water, not minding her sigh with emotion.

"There is no need to deliberately clear anything, much less a need for anyone's understanding."

"No matter how I defend it, those things were, indeed, done by me."

Black Swan gave him a deep look, her gaze complex and hard to read, containing inquiry, vigilance, and a flicker of wavering she herself hadn't noticed.

Finally, she didn't continue this heavy and dangerous topic, wisely choosing to move on.

She turned to look at the deepening darkness in the lobby, which seemed to want to swallow all light.

"Let's go."

"We'll explore around. Perhaps by following the flow of these dense 'Sins of Desire' memes, we can find that filth-hiding 'Land of the Exiled' that The Family is trying so hard to conceal."

Daziel nodded slightly in agreement.

Without another word, they walked side by side in tacit understanding towards the unknown darkness deep within the hotel.

Their footsteps echoed softly in the empty, dead silent lobby filled with the stench of decay, infinitely amplified, sounding particularly clear and eerie.

They dared not be careless in the slightest, much less act separately.

In this completely unknown deep dreamscape, full of strangeness and foreboding, any slight negligence could lead to unforeseen, even irreversible consequences.

Under the dim and cold light, the decorations that once symbolized luxury and glory now cast long, twisted and grotesque shadows, like monsters lurking in the dark, ready to devour someone at any moment.

The viscous, heavy emotions of desire in the air, like invisible tentacles, were constantly trying to drill into their minds, erode their sanity, and induce their deepest fears and desires.

With every step forward, they felt one step closer to the hidden truth, and also one step closer to the unknown, potentially fatal danger.

Deep within the hotel, the stench of decay and rot grew stronger, as if it had condensed into substance, pressing down so hard it was difficult to breathe.

The light was extremely dim, barely enough to outline the once magnificent lobby, now just a scene of ruin and dead silence.

Scattered on the ground were many twisted and stiff figures—the grotesque creations of the Dreamjolt Troupe that feed on nightmares.

Their limbs were contorted, like low-quality dolls drained of all vitality, exuding an unsettling aura of death.

Black Swan frowned slightly, her purple eyes under the veil sharply scanning the motionless monsters, her nostrils flaring almost imperceptibly.

"These poor things toppled all over…"

She caught a very faint, yet out of place, residual scent in the air.

"Strange… it seems… there's someone else's scent remaining here?"

Daziel's grey-gold eyes suddenly focused, sharp as a hawk's, instantly looking in the direction she had sensed.

"Someone else's scent? Who?"

Before his voice had even fallen, an indescribable, almost tangible sharpness suddenly came from above and behind him!

It wasn't killing intent, yet it was more heart-stopping than killing intent, like some kind of invisible premonition, coldly stabbing deep into the soul.

Daziel snapped his head back almost instinctively!

His gaze shot upwards, past the dusty and mottled handrails, accurately landing on the staircase of the second-floor corridor.

A figure stood quietly there, her bluish-purple combat suit clinging to her body, outlining a lean and powerful silhouette.

One hand rested on the hilt of the sword at her waist, her posture as straight as a pine tree, like an peerless, vicious blade yet to be unsheathed, but whose sharpness was already palpable.

It was Acheron!

At this moment, she had her eyes slightly lowered, her gaze fixed on the center of the lobby below.

There, a few Dreamjolt Troupe monsters, which for some reason still retained a bit of activity, were letting out meaningless roars, twisting their grotesque limbs, and lunging towards her.

Acheron didn't even intend to draw her blade.

She just flicked her wrist lightly, and the ancient scabbard in her hand drew a swift, precise, and strangely rhythmic trajectory.

"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"

A series of dull and crisp thuds sounded, like hitting worn leather.

With every collision between the scabbard and a monster's body, a monster fell to the ground, twitched a few times, then completely lost all movement, turning into a puddle of meaningless, foul Memoria.

The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, so fast it was dazzling, yet without a single superfluous movement, filled with a violent yet strange beauty.

Using only her scabbard, she had cut down all the attacking enemies as if merely dusting them off.

After dealing with this trivial trouble, Acheron seemed to let out a light sigh, raising her slender fingers to rub her smooth forehead.

"Sigh… is there not even a map navigation here? I'm lost again…"

She muttered to herself, her cool voice carrying a hint of imperceptible trouble and confusion, a stark contrast to her deft skills just now.

Then, as if sensing the gaze from below, her eyes suddenly turned over.

"Huh, it's you?"

Acheron's gaze landed precisely on Daziel and Black Swan, a look of appropriate surprise in her deep eyes.

"It seems… I didn't wait in vain."

Daziel's face was as calm as an ancient well as he met those deep eyes that seemed to see through all illusion.

This was the second time he had encountered this mysterious, powerful, and heart-stopping woman in the bizarre dreamscape.

The first time was when the train was warping. Even though their exchange was short, it had left a deep impression.

"From your tone, it seems… you've been waiting for us?"

Daziel's voice was steady, without emotion.

Acheron walked down the stairs slowly, her steps light and silent, like a cat walking in the night.

"Just trying my luck."

Her voice was cool, like jades clashing in a cold winter spring, carrying a natural sense of distance.

"I knew you would try to enter the deeper dreamscape."

"However, I… am not very good at finding my way. It's a good thing I ran into you here."

"Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have had to go to reality to find you again."

Black Swan's heart suddenly tightened. Her body subconsciously retreated half a step, moving closer to Daziel.

She clearly remembered the aura of Nihility she had felt from the other party during the dance invitation in the Golden Hour, an aura that almost froze her soul and turned it into nothingness!

The feeling, even now, sent a chill throughout her body.

"I wonder… Miss, you were specifically looking for the two of us. Is there some important matter?"

Her voice had lost its usual calm and composure of being in control, taking on a hint of almost imperceptible tension.

Acheron stopped a few steps away from them, her gaze like the most precise scanner, slowly sweeping over Daziel and Black Swan, carrying a sense of scrutiny.

"I came to persuade you…"

"Not to go any further down."

Her tone was as flat as water, as if stating a foregone conclusion, yet it carried a weight that was undeniable and irrefutable.

"If you go any further, what you will have to face is not something the current you… can handle."

She paused slightly, her gaze seeming to linger on Daziel for a moment, then added, like a final judgment, cold and cruel.

"You are too weak."

"…!"

The complexion under Black Swan's veil instantly became extremely ugly, her chest heaving.

As a highly respected Memokeeper of the Garden of Recollection, who walked the river of memory, when had she ever been so directly looked down upon and belittled to her face?!

To her, this was not just an offense, but a huge insult to her identity and abilities!

However, her throat moved a few times, but the sharp retorts were like being blocked by an invisible boulder in her chest; she couldn't utter a single word.

The terrifying shadow left by that brief contact, the suppression from a higher level of existence, was simply too profound.

She knew in her heart with absolute certainty that she absolutely could not contend with this seemingly restrained, yet terrifyingly extreme woman before her.

…

And she was definitely among the top Emanators, the kind who had walked the furthest on their Path!

Almost instinctively, subconsciously, she turned her head to look at the man beside her who was still as calm as a deep pool.

"Mr. Daziel… she, she said all that…"

"You… don't you have anything to say?!"

At this moment, Black Swan had lost all the mystery and elegance of a Memokeeper of the Garden of Recollection.

Her tone carried a hint of imperceptible panic, reliance, and even… a sense of having been greatly wronged and urgently seeking support and backing.

A very faint, somewhat helpless, wry smile tugged at the corner of Daziel's mouth.

"You have that much confidence in me?"

He glanced sideways at Black Swan, his tone teasing.

"Aren't you afraid… I can't beat her either?"

Black Swan bit her lower lip, her delicate chin lifting slightly, her tone tinged with unwillingness and stubbornness.

"Tsk, then are we… really going to listen to her and just turn back in defeat like this?!"

She couldn't accept such an ending, especially in front of this man who made her feel wary yet inexplicably concerned, to retreat in such a sorry state.

Daziel didn't immediately respond to Black Swan's "goading."

His gaze returned to Acheron, still calm, his deep grey-gold eyes without a ripple.

"Miss Acheron, you seem very certain."

"Could you tell us the reason for your actions?"

"Why are you so sure that we cannot handle the situation ahead?"

Acheron's jade-like fingers gently caressed the cold scabbard at her waist, her movements slow and focused, as if the scabbard held the secrets of the entire world.

She gave Daziel a deep look, her gaze complex and hard to read, as if able to pierce through layers of dreamlike illusion to see the essence of the soul.

"That guy from the Corporation… the one dressed flamboyantly, like a peacock displaying its feathers… the blond man…"

"What was his name again?"

She tilted her head slightly, her delicate brow furrowing in thought, as if trying hard to search for that somewhat hard-to-pronounce name.

Daziel spoke at the right time, his voice steady and calm.

"Aventurine."

Acheron nodded, her eyes returning to their previous clarity and indifference.

"Right, Aventurine."

"He found me not long ago and asked me… if I was willing to cooperate with him."

"A cooperation aimed at exposing the filthy crimes behind The Family."

"He hoped that I, on Penacony's grandest stage, under the gaze of everyone, in full public view…"

"Would cut him down."

"To prove to everyone that in this false land of beautiful dreams, Penacony, there also exists… true death."

"He also threatened that if I didn't agree, he would… reveal my identity to everyone…"

Daziel's brow raised almost imperceptibly. This was indeed a subtle deviation from the original trajectory he knew.

"So, did you agree?"

Acheron slowly shook her head, her movement gentle, yet her tone was resolute, as indifferent as ice.

"No…"

"Because it's meaningless."

"The internal strife within the Interastral Peace Corporation has nothing to do with me."

"I don't want his boring calculations to disrupt my original plans and pace."

Daziel understood.

As expected, due to his intervention, the direction of many things had undergone unpredictable changes.

In the original plot, Aventurine's interactions with Acheron were more about probing, using her, and ultimately, a desperate gamble.

Now, it had evolved into such a direct, even threatening transaction.

And Acheron's refusal was also more clear-cut, more… individualistic than in the original trajectory.

"That's a… somewhat unexpected answer…"

Daziel was thoughtful.

Acheron's gaze once again became deep, as if piercing through the dim lobby before her, sinking into some extremely distant, unforgettable memory.

"Once…"

"Someone advised me so…"

Her voice lowered, carrying an indescribable complex emotion, as if those words, having crossed the endless river of time, were once again echoing in her ears.

"'Show no mercy to your enemies; that is cruelty to yourself.'"

Her fingertips unconsciously slid over the cold patterns on the scabbard, her eyes drifting to some point in the void.

"'But you must recognize who your true enemy is…'"

Fragments of memory flowed in the depths of her eyes, reflecting a blurry blood-red color and resolve.

"'And, you must understand the meaning and cost of swinging that blade.'"

The voice was so soft it almost seemed to crack, yet it was as heavy as a mountain.

"'This is the only advice a person burdened with countless blood debts can give you.'"

The words rippled silently in the lobby, then fell completely silent.

Only that faint, heart-stopping, strange low hum from the depths of the dreamscape still stubbornly drilled into their eardrums.

Acheron slowly raised her eyelids. Her once out-of-focus eyes regained their light, sharp and deep, firmly locked on Daziel's calm face.

"Now,"

She said, word by word, her tone returning to its previous coolness, "I give these same words to you."

Her gaze was like a physical blade, trying to cut open the truth beneath Daziel's composed facade.

"Turn back, Daziel. If you continue down this path, what lies ahead is far beyond what you can bear."

Daziel was silent for a moment. The surrounding air seemed to thicken due to this brief silence.

He let out a light sigh, as if brushing off non-existent dust from his shoulder.

He stared at Acheron, his grey-gold eyes showing no fear, no hesitation, only an almost stubborn calmness.

"If I stop here,"

Daziel's voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed with exceptional clarity in the empty lobby.

"Wouldn't that be… forgetting the meaning of trailblazing?!"

It was a calm declaration, an undeniable will.

"Then let me ask you…"

A very faint arc graced the corner of Daziel's mouth, but his eyes sharpened. "What if I insist on walking on?"

The air seemed to completely freeze at this moment!

The freezing point had arrived!

Acheron's five fingers, gripping the hilt of her sword, suddenly tightened.

Zheng—!

The tightly wrapped cloth on the hilt, due to this sudden force, made an extremely subtle, yet incredibly clear sound of friction, like some dangerous omen.

Her eyes suddenly became incomparably sharp, like an unsheathed, peerless vicious blade, its edge exposed, its chill bone-piercing!

"Then," Acheron's voice was as cold as ice, "I will have to personally weigh your strength."

Each word seemed to be squeezed from between her teeth, carrying a texture of nothingness.

"To see if you truly have the strength to bear that cost!"

___

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